


The Fools We Trust

by Sunshineshipper



Category: The Incredibles (2004)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-09 18:45:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15273921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshineshipper/pseuds/Sunshineshipper
Summary: It's now Helen's turn to give attention to the concrete floor and she's stricken with a slight fear. Would she even answer the next one? It's definitely more personal than the last one. However, it isn't enough fear to halt her from pressing on, “We could have been friends?”





	1. Chapter 1

There's two specific things Helen notices the instant she takes a seat across from Evelyn.

One. She stays bent forward. Her hands intertwine on top of the table, fidgeting every now and then with her bitten up nails. While her eyes, mostly shielded by ragged brown locks, must have found an interesting spot on the floor because she refuses to pry them away long enough to realize who her visitor is. Though, if she has to guess, Evelyn probably already knows who’s here with her.

Two. Her heart has started sporadically beating. And, yeah, she definitely has to force herself to breathe properly. She tugs at the collar of her turtleneck. Not that it does much good.

She isn't sure where to start.

‘Hi might be the best option.’

She knows that and she opens her mouth to say it, but no words come out. It's deafeningly quiet in the room which is, by any standards, the saddest place she's ever been in. Drab grey walls with a single table and two chairs being occupied. Definitely not stylish enough for Evelyn Deavor. And a mirror that, she knows too well, doubles as a viewing window with several cops behind it. 

“There's no one back there.”

Helen snaps her attention back to the other side of the table where Evelyn still sits unmoved, “Winston told them I'd be no harm to you, so there was no need to watch over me.”

If she was gasping for air before, then every breath has been sucked out of lungs now, “H-How… How does he know that?”

After about 45 seconds of silence -Helen counted- Evelyn finally cracks one eye open to give her the attention she needs, “I told him you were safe with me.”

“And he believed you after-”

“It took a lot of convincing. Plus, you're a super. What could I do to you?”

“Besides mind control and kicking me in the face?” it's meant as a joke, but she doesn't find herself laughing and Evelyn wouldn't dare break her facade enough to give her the satisfaction of any real emotion, “Okay, um-”

“Did you come here to make jokes, Elastigirl?”

She could feel the aggravation behind the name and she hates it. She hates the guilty feeling that she’s somehow to blame for Evelyn being locked up in here, which is ridiculous by all means. She's the one who got herself put here. She's the one who decided she wanted to use her family tragedy as a way to do evil against every superhero ever.

And what was fair about that? From the moment she met Evelyn, she's been as friendly as possible yet she was the one in the middle of her insane scheme. Being controlled for evil, being told she was pitiful for seeing the good in everyone, being tricked into a ‘friendship’ that was so fake, but… part of her still wanted.

None of that was her fault.

So, why for the past two months that Evelyn's been in here has she feel so guilty?

“I have a few questions.”

“Shoot.”

She tears her vision away from the table back to Evelyn who's got her sleep deprived eyes glued to her. A small part of her wants to know what kind of thoughts are running through her mind. Whether she's surprised by the random visit, or if she's frustrated by her, or if she's plotting some kind of revenge.

The other part is too afraid to truly know her feelings toward her.

“Why me?”

She crosses her arms over her chest and one finger taps against her elbow, “Why you?”

“Are you telling me that you weren't trying to get Winston to use me as your pawn? ‘Evelyn checked your records. You're the best match.’ Why would you do that if not to use me? Why, though? Why me?” Just as she stops, Evelyn opens her mouth to respond, but she isn't done, “Was I easy to manipulate? Because I was the most trusting, it had to be me, right? Or was I just stupid enough to fall for it?”

Evelyn raises a hand and Helen believes it's the first time she's been able to breathe since she drove here, “Just the opposite. Yeah, I did take advantage of your kindness. I'm a villain after all. However, stupid is the farthest thing from what you are.”

“You used me for my kindness then?”

Evelyn grins. It's really the first time in a long time since she's seen it, “You could say that. Or maybe I just thought it'd be cool to work with you. I've known of you for a while. Articles in the newspaper, an occasional conversation with people I associated with,” she shakes her head as if trying to dismantle some kind of thought she didn't want, “Anyway, like I said then. You barely knew me. You had nothing to go by except a few of my inventions. Why put so much trust into me?”

“Well, you had an injustice done to you and your family. That's what I try to prevent from happening. I guess I figured since you knew what that felt like that you were in it to save others from that sort of pain,” she's unsure of the type of reaction the other woman will give her. More so when Evelyn's eyebrow arches.

“That's a snap judgement.”

She gives a nod of agreement, “In my line of work, I have to make several of those.”

“Right… Next question.”

It's now Helen's turn to give attention to the concrete floor and she's stricken with a slight fear. Would she even answer the next one? It's definitely more personal than the last one. However, it isn't enough fear to halt her from pressing on, “We could have been friends?” she leaves her lips hanging open as if she has anything else to add.

The tapping stops and it's frighteningly quiet on Evelyn’s side of the room. So much so that she lifts her gaze up just to make sure she still has the other woman's attention. Evidently she does because she doesn’t overt her eyes away when Helen catches her staring.

“Well?”

“I hated you, remember? Just because I had an interest in working with you doesn't mean I wanted to spend every waking hour with you. I mean… of course we couldn’t have been friends,” it's a lie and an obvious one at that. She fidgets at each word and momentarily glances over to another space in the room. The same behavior she gave off when she tried to convince her that screenslaver was in prison, “What would you like me to say?”

“The truth? Because that's sure not it. Did you mean what you said in the jet about or was it another attempt to somehow persuade me to your side?”

There's something heart clenching about the grin she's giving off, “I don't know what good that would've done. You already hated my guts.”

“I never hated you,” she corrects and the room is silent again. For a moment, Evelyn’s eyes widen only to return back to their original half lidded state, “I never felt pity toward you, either. Despite what you accuse me of. I felt,” she pauses, trying to find the right words for this, “Bewildered.

“Bewildered, eh?” she chuckles and it's full of a bitter, self-righteous emotion, “Tell me what made you so bewildered by me.”

“Answer mine first.”

At first, Evelyn just stares. Her foot pushes at the floor rocking the chair back and forth all the while she switches glaring between her eyes and her mouth. That's what she assumes she was looking at anyway. Eventually, she shrugs, “Yeah, okay. I thought we could've been friends.”

“Why?”

“You need a reason for that?”

“Apparently. It's why I came here.”

She nods, “Well, for starters you and I had similar views on some issues. Like the fact that you were pretty badass in your glory days,” she has to stop just to smile at that statement, “And, you know, we had a couple of laughs here and there. That seems like a good foundation to build a friendship off of.”

“Maybe you're right, but you said something-”

“I say a lot of things.”

“-You said that my core beliefs prevented a friendship. Does that mean that if I switched sides, we would have been friends?”

She shrugs her shoulders, “It's a possibility.”

“Is that why you tried so hard to persuade me?” Helen knows she hit forbidden territory when Evelyn’s fist balls up. But she refused to back down.

“Why do you keep saying that? I don't remember persua-”

“When you had me tied up, you were talking about how your parents,” she notices the way Evelyn flinched at the word, “Shouldn't have put their trust in anyone else. As if trying to tell me I should be doing the same. Was that not persuasion?”

“No, that was irritation. Much like this conversation is making me feel.”

“But it could have easily been misunderstood as that. Right?”

Her bottom lip was suddenly placed between her teeth, gnawing at it. She's nervous and rightfully so.

“You… you had this... Fuck, you had this attitude that everything and everyone had some kind of good in them. Even me. And, dammit if it didn't get to me. It was sickening. Just not in the way that I made it out to be. I don't know. I guess that felt… nice? Strange that I'm saying that after I tried so hard to get you believe otherwise,” another chuckle slips out, “Bet you don't still feel that way seeing as I'm behind bars for nearly killing you.”

“You would lose that bet.”

“Hm. Good to know. I guess it's also good to know that maybe I wanted to be friends.”

“Oh?” she gives her a questioning look, which is returned with a light nod.

“Yeah, I hate admitting it, but I liked you. You were fun chatting with. Mainly because it was real. I've met tons of people Winston’s worked with and they were all so robotic. That or selfish. Then again, what room do I have to talk? And you always had this way of keeping me interested.”

“You mean that part wasn't fake?”

She winces as if it physically hurt her, “No, it… it was real. I didn't want it to be, but it was. And… part of me wanted to call the whole thing off because of it. B-Because of you.”

It takes her a minute to process that. Really, really process that. She could have had the power to persuade a villain -she hates using that word for Evelyn- to change their plans. She could have stopped all of what happened.

And didn't even know it.

“It might also need to be noted that I wasn't going to let any harm come to you. In the jet, when you were running out of oxygen. Maybe I would have gone as far as letting you pass out, but certainty nothing like death.”

“R-Really? Even after you made a speech about that specifically happening?”

“I needed to get a point across,” she rubs the palm of her hand against her forehead, “That good enough for a friendship?”

“A screwed up one, yes. Maybe something along the lines of-”.

‘Don't. Don't you dare. There's a line and you almost have a foot across it.’

Evelyn raises an eyebrow and Helen mentally slaps herself. She tries to think of something else to cover it up, but Evelyn takes control of the conversation.

“Now my question. I bewildered you?”

“I seem to find you still doing it,” she runs a hand through her hair, hoping that her own explanation isn't as misguided as she thinks it might be, “For starters, you always did seem to have a disdain for supers. I know and can understand why even though I feel like it's misinterpreted,” as soon as she says it, Evelyn develops a snarky look on her features, “Let me finish. What happened to your parents… it was a tragedy and I can understand the trauma that you've developed, but answer me this: Was there ever a moment between us where I gave you the impression that I wanted to betray you in any way? Or did I ever seem like I felt I was superior to you?”

She's biting at her lip again and she can't seem to keep a focus on any specific spot in the room. Helen knows this means she's thinking it over. Maybe changing her opinion on a few things, “I would like to say yes just so I don't have to admit to being wrong, but that's not the case. You were…” she rolls her eyes, “Super friendly.”

She has to crack a smile at the corny joke.

“Don't take this the wrong way, but you're husband was always arrogant when it came to being a superhero. But you, there was a humble spirit to it. Even when Winston told you we'd be starting out with you.”

“I have to agree. I love him more than anything,” it doesn't go unnoticed when Evelyn winces at the comment, but she chooses to push it to the side for the time being, “But he can be arrogant. Of course, he only has the good of the people when it comes to missions.”

“I'm not saying he doesn't. What I'm trying to get at is that you have humility.”

“And yet you basically called me foolish for believing I could trust you?”

She nods, “That's due to the fact that I don't trust anyone. Not even Winston, but him more than most I suppose. It was weird to think you could be so trusting of me based on the fact that I built you a bike.”

“Well, it was a pretty cool bike,” she chuckles when Evelyn holds out her hand and nods her head.

“Thank you, madame,” the statement is followed by a quick wink.

God help her, she's blushing. She can feel it. And she's sure it's the same matching red as the color plastered on Evelyn’s face. But she plays it off more easily. Acting as if it was just an illusion or something. While Helen's trying not to stutter or say something too far.

“It would be nice to have another one,” she runs a finger over the table and the metal is cold. She finds something new to hate about this place every minute.

“Yeah, wish I could help you out, but as you can tell, I'm having so much fun here.”

“About that, you might not be having ‘so much fun’ for much longer,” the questioning look Evelyn has lets her know she has no idea what's she's referring to, “Winston told me he managed to get you house arrest instead of a full sentence.”

“What?! And I have to find out from you?” It's an aggressive tone she's giving, but Helen can tell she's more flustered than angry, so she tries to ignore what feels like an insult toward her.

“He didn't really mean to tell me. He let it slip when I asked about coming to visit you.”

That statement changes her attitude completely. Instead of a squinted glare of frustration, her pale blue eyes soften, “Right.”

“Anyway, I figured you'd be more thrilled to hear this. You get to leave this place.”

She scoffs, “Yeah, to be stuck at home indefinitely. Though, anything is better than being trapped in here surrounded by complete strangers.”

“That's the spirit,” she smiles again hoping it’d brighten Evelyn’s mood up and momentarily it does. Until she develops a worried look, “What is it?”

“Uh....” She clears her throat, “Am I going to have to worry about you randomly visiting me at home, too or…”

She thinks it over. It's an obviously rude comment that's meant to sound as if she preferred to be alone. However, she's staring her down, a semi pleading look that Helen's trying to put an explanation behind.

On one hand, she's crazy and Evelyn honest to God just wants to be left alone. On the other, she's desperate to have her coming back for a visit. A third option would be she wants more company than her brother all of the time.

Either way, ‘As long as I'm welcome.”

She lets out a playful scoff, “I could be persuaded.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> House arrest wouldn't be so bad.

Evelyn spends about five straight minutes staring down the clock hanging on her kitchen wall before she gives up on it and settles for trying to drink the remaining coffee- now cold and bitter- that she poured half an hour ago. House arrest truly was better than being locked up in prison no doubt, but with so little to do, she had to kill time in some creatively boring ways.

Yesterday, she rearranged the contents of her fridge. Four times in a row. The day before she read three books including the copyrights and the author's note. And she had her brother to thank for all of this.

Winston refused to give her any kind of technology just in case she had any plans to become corrupt again, so when she finally came home after three more weeks in prison, she walked into a house with only the essentials in her kitchen, a bed and a bookshelf, and any kind of entertainment including a television were long gone. She had to scoff at him, but really she should've been grateful. Not everyone would be so willing to sweet talk the police force into releasing her out on house arrest.

She just wishes she had more to do.

Suddenly the sound of her doorbell ringing fills the living room. Winston must have gotten away from work early enough to stop by an hour early.

“It's open,” she shouts, too exhausted to be bothered into moving from her couch. Or even glance up for that matter, so when she hears a familiar chuckle right before the person clears their throat, she's shocked to snap her vision up to see Helen a few feet from her.

“Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes,” Helen smiles, it's radiant and breathtaking at the same time.”

She thinks about saying thank you, but she decides on a simple joke instead, “I think I'd be more attractive if I didn't have a giant hunk of metal locked on my leg,” she gestures to her left foot where right above it is an ankle bracelet with a green light flickering away, “Not exactly my taste of style.”

“No, I don't think it's anybody's really,” the statement follows with another chuckle. One that Evelyn has to return.

“Why are you here exactly?”

Helen points down to the box next to her that Evelyn didn't even realize was there until now, “I'm here to persuade you.”

**************************************************

If Evelyn wasn't so set on keeping a nonchalant facade, she would be hugging Helen right now. Magazines, newspapers, a sketchbook and pencils. It's all in the box. She sits on her floor, legs crossed, and individually pulls out every item one by one.

“I thought it'd give you something to do while you're cooped up in here. Of course, I'll bring one of these once a week just so you don't have to go through the same stuff repeatedly,” she sips from the cup of coffee Evelyn had made for her, shifting her eyes around the room to take it in. Meanwhile, Evelyn looks at her through the corner of her eye.

One of these every week. Which indicates she'll be coming back every week. Was she okay with this? Was Helen? She does have kids and a husband to tend to.

She pushes all of that to the back of her mind and focuses on the tiny action figure she pulls out.

“What in the…”

“Oh, no,” Helen shifts on the couch until she's closer to Evelyn, “That's one Dash’s toys. Must've slipped in there by accident.”

She examines the toy. A little toy soldier with a fake gun that pulls off. Shrugging, she sits the toy on top of the coffee table.

“You can keep it. One less thing for me to have to accidentally step on,” she sets the cup down and moves her hands to press into the couch.

She's not exactly sure what she could do with a toy soldier. Maybe put it on display in her bookcase. A reminder. Of what, she isn't sure of.

She pushes herself off of the ground, “Thanks. You know, for the stuff. There's not much to do around here anymore. Winston refuses to give me much of anything just in case. I'm pretty sure if I had to rearrange my fridge again, I'd go insane.”

Helen raises an eyebrow, which goes ignored while Evelyn makes her way to cupboard. She brings out another coffee mug before pouring the last cup of coffee for herself. Deciding against sitting next to Helen, she rests her arms on her counter, “So, how is life going? It's been, what? Three weeks since I've seen you?”

Helen nods, “I would have come sooner; however, Winston said you might need some time to adjust. As for life, it's been peaceful enough. Bob's spending his days looking for bad guys and such. Not much activity there. In fact, besides… what happened with you, crime has been low lately.”

“Must've set too high of a record for them,” she pauses for Helen to let out a small chuckle, “Bet he's going crazy over that. Supers are finally legal and that's when evil decides to sleep.”

“It is quite ironic. Something will pop up eventually. My kids are doing well. Violet is still dating Tony and she's head over heels for him. Dash won his latest marathon. Got a trophy and everything. He's so proud. And Jack Jack,” she sighs, running a hand over her forehead, “Eighteen powers and counting. He's something else.”

“I bet teen years are going to be a trip for you guys.”

“Most likely,” she pulls herself away from the couch, striding over to her. Evelyn watches carefully while drinking from her cup again silently wishing it was alcoholic instead. She doesn't say another word until she's on the opposite side of her, “What about you? Do you know how long you'll be under house arrest?”

“A whole year. Best Winston could do,” she listens to the way Helen lets out a groan, “It's gonna be numbingly boring. I can tell, but,” she purposely makes eye contact with Helen, “Maybe it won't be too bad.”

Helen nods, pushing parts of her hair back and finding a spot on the counter to stare at, “Has Winston been to see you?”

“Almost every day. He's supposed to be here soon actually. He mentions Devtech often. Tons of comments about how he needs me back for designing and engineering. I have to admit, I do miss it. It's gonna be awhile before I can do anything like that again.”

“It must be tough. Fortunately for you, you now own a sketchbook to jot down any ideas you'll have. Save it for later.”

“That I do.”

“Speaking of, what happened with all of your technology? Or… Screenslaver’s technology I should say.”

She winces at the name and Helen looks like she's ready to apologize, but she stops her, “Winston didn't want to destroy the blueprints for them, so he locked them away in a safe. As for the already built equipment, he had that incinerated.”

Helen looks slightly taken back by this, “Why?”

“I asked him to,” Helen gives off a shocked expression, “It was just going to be reminder. If not to me, then to Winston. And, besides, I'm locked away from it for a year. What good would that have done?”

“You have a point there. It's too bad, though. Some of them were great ideas.”

Evelyn tries to force back a blush, “Just some?”

She nods, “Well, I have tried, but I can't come up with a good enough reason to use mind control technology.”

“Maybe I could become the world's best magician,” she laughs and apparently Helen thought it was funny because now she's giggling away, “Just have to wait a year to find out.”

“Maybe you could come up with a better name this time.”

“Hey,” she swats at Helen's hand against the table, “I was pressed for time and I thought it was clever.”

“If you say so,” she rolls her eyes, but still smiles Evelyn’s way.

It's comforting, being with her. She can laugh, more than she has in a very long time. And she feels safe, which isn't what she expected to feel with the woman she used.

And it’s terrifying. When she sees her, she's reminded- painfully reminded- of what harm she truly caused this woman. Not just her. Her family and Winston and every superhero who was being controlled. Yeah, she still believed that you can't trust everyone you see and that you should stick up for yourself instead of depending others, but it was beginning to hit her hard how much damage she's actually done.

“Helen, I…” she throws her face into her hands, not wanting to see the reaction Helen would give her, “I'm so sorry for what I did to you.”

“Evelyn-”

“Here you are, in the house of the person who put you in danger, laughing away as if it never happened. Why?”

“Because I care about you. You know that,” she tugs at Evelyn’s sleeve until she finally meets her eyes. She slips their fingers together and Evelyn swears she'll lose control of her breathing, “Would I have visited you in the first place if I didn't?”

She shrugs, “You said you had some questions.”

“I did. Still do, but I also wanted to check up on you. I thought maybe you could use a friend. It has to be boring bring here every day.”

She chuckles, “Mind numbingly.”

Helen smiles back and releases her hand and she feels an empty tug at her heart when she does. She pushes that away and pulls herself up, ready to speak again until Helen looks over to the clock.

“Oh, no,” she sighs, “I need to get home. Family will be back soon and I have to cook dinner,” she backs away from the counter, but refuses to break eye contact with her. While Evelyn slips past her side of the the table to walk her to the door, “Do, um… next time, do you want me to bring you anything specific?”

She opens the front door, gently pressing her forehead into the corner of it, “You know, I would kill for some sort of take out. Metaphorically speaking,” she grins and Helen tucks the hair behind her ear and nods.

“Take out food. Will do. Have a good rest of your,day, Evelyn.”

She backs out slowly and Evelyn watches her leave until it's just her alone.

Maybe house arrest wouldn't be so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> My first story for this ship. At first I thought it was great, but then it seemed to start getting repetitive. There might be a chapter 2 of I can figure something out.


End file.
